Cricketers who missed out on the top twenty

You’ve read Sportskeeda’s list of Top 20 greatest cricketers to have played the game. There are some who couldn’t make it to the top 20, but deserve a mention in the great history of cricket. Here are the five who just missed out:

George Headley

George Headley’s story is punctuated with a big ‘what if’. What if the 2nd World War didn’t cut this batsman’s career short? The result of an uninterrupted career for the West Indian, people will tell you, would have resulted in George Headley scaling the heights of the game. But World War did interrupt Headley’s career, it was Bradman who reached the peaks of the game, and Headley, who was entitled ‘the black Bradman’.

From 1930-39, George Headley made 26.9% of his team’s runs and 2/3rd of the total centuries (10 out of 15) by West Indian batsmen. For being the only hope for his team and carrying them on his shoulders, he was named ‘Atlas’ by CB Fry. His batting technique was beautiful to watch, better than Bradman, it’s said. When he scored 223 against a visiting English side in Kingston, he became the youngest ever double centurian at the age of 20, a record he held for 46 years, before Miandad scored one at 19. However, it still remains to date, the highest score in the 4th innings of a match. Sadly, in the years after the war, he never quite achieved the same success again.

As is the case with great cricketers, their greatness lies outside of numbers. George Headley was the perfect student of the game. The joy of batting was evident in his disappointment at his teammates’ dismissals – “Why him don’t like to bat?” he would say at other batsmen’s apparent lack of interest in batting. He targeted not just the gaps in the field, but fielders who were bowlers, trying to tire them out.

West Indies found their first black hero in Headley. He inspired more than a generation. The future West Indian greats started playing with Headley as their idol – the first West Indian who challenged to be the best. What if his career wasn’t interrupted? There might not have been a ‘black Bradman’, but a ‘white Headley’.

Wally Hammond

The legend of Bradman is immortal. But if Donald Bradman had never played cricket, the tag of the ‘greatest’ would have fallen on Walter Hammond. Whatever Hammond did, Bradman did better. Wally Hammond was the first man to score 900 runs in a Test series, when he scored 905 runs in the Ashes of 1928/29 in Australia. But 2 years later, Bradman bettered it by belting 974 in England. In 1936/37, Hammond scored a brilliant double century to help England take a 2-0 lead in the series. But Bradman scored 270, 212 and 169 in the next 3 matches to win the series 3-2 for Australia.

On the field, they crossed each other’s path many a times and each would try to outplay the other. Hammond had the better of Bradman when he surpassed Don’s 334 to make 336 – a World Record at that time. So obsessed was Hammond with Don, that when Len Hutton scored 364 against Australia in 1938, captain Hammond wanted him to go on and on, because no record was safe against Bradman. Only when the Aussie had to go off the field after injuring himself in the field, and was sure of not batting in the match, did Hammond declare the innings.

But talking about Hammond the batsman, there is no doubt in anyone’s mind, that there wasn’t a better player on the off-side, perhaps the batsman who owned the most beautiful cover drive in the game. After amassing colossal amounts of runs though, his best innings is acknowledged to be the one which fetched him just 32. In the 3rd test of 1936/37, England was bundled out for 76 on the wet pitch of MCG. It was one of the most difficult pitches to bat on, but Hammond looked at ease amidst his teammates who fell like ninepins. Not for nothing, is he considered the best batsman on difficult pitches.

That his contribution in bowling is largely neglected stands testimony to his reputation in batting. He took 83 wickets in Tests and 732 in First-class matches, bowling medium pace. If he failed with the bat, he’d make amends with the ball. Coupled with his supreme slip-fielding (he took 110 catches in tests), he erected a colossal reputation on the field.

Probably one of the, if not the greatest cricketer emerging from England, Wally Hammond left a huge legacy behind him.

Michael Holding

If you’re a batsman, you wouldn’t want to face the ‘Whispering Death’. His attack started before he delivered the ball, before he even reached the crease, when he started his run-up. The languid fluidity of his run to the crease mesmerized batsmen, and the sheer pace of the delivery woke them up to the dangers of the world.

He was often said to be the fastest among the West Indian pace battery, and that’s saying something. His over to Geoff Boycott in Bridgetown in 1981, is said to be ‘the greatest over in Test history’. Now, however loosely the term ‘greatest’ may be handed around, when the batsman is fearing for his life, and not just his wicket, and is outsmarted on all 6 deliveries, the last one hitting the top of off-stump, there is merit in the title. Boycott was hit on the knuckles and thigh, missed a few outside his off-stump and managed to keep one out, but when bowled off the final delivery, Holding completed his annihilation.

Along with Andy Roberts, he formed one of the most successful opening bowling partnerships. When Tony Greig said that the England would make the West Indies ‘grovel’, Holding replied with ferocious bowling which rattled the English batsmen. His 14/149 in the 5^th Test of the 1976 series, at Oval, remains the best bowling figures for a West Indian bowler.

Probably the fastest bowler, Michael Holding was a rare commodity of poetry and fearsome pace, mixed in one.

Ian Botham

There are very few cricketers who change the way the game is perceived and played. Ian Botham, was one such cricketer – a jewel in the crown. They couldn’t find anyone like him before he came on, and they hopelessly searched for someone like him after he retired. ‘Beefy’, as he was called for his muscular built, was a larger than life figure in England.

In 1974, playing for Somerset against Hampshire, early in the innings Botham was hit on the face by an Andy Roberts bouncer. With teeth smashed and a blood soaked mouth, he continued to make 45 for his team. The superstar had announced his arrival.

Botham had a knack of conjuring something out of his seemingly limitless hat of tricks and win the match for England. For a dour English side, he was like a breath of fresh air – all coupled with off-field controversies and on-field arrogance. He swung the ball both ways, picked up wickets even on bad deliveries, had a good technique and most importantly, was never short of 200% commitment on the field. With Botham on field, the intensity levels increased.

In an era of Imran, Kapil and Hadlee, he was the fastest to reach the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets, in Tests. He even held the record of the highest number of wickets briefly. As is the case is with such individuals, he reserved his best against the fiercest rivals – Australia. In 1981, after being handed the captaincy, he failed in the first two matches. On the verge of being dropped, he made a spectacular comeback in the next 3. His 149 at Headingley was a match winning innings, and so was his spell of 5 wickets for 1 run at Edgbaston which knocked the wind out of an Aussie chase. At Old Trafford, he made a 100 and took 5 wickets. At the Oval, he capped it off with 10 wickets in the match. England won the series 3-1 as Botham became an icon.

He lived life to the fullest and nobody could hold it against him. He was sought by tabloids as the millions in Britain couldn’t get enough of him. He was briefly suspended for smoking marijuana, and England suffered without him.

A unique cricketer, Botham, ‘Beefy’, ‘Guy the gorilla’, was without doubt, the best all-rounder England ever produced, and one of their finest cricketers.

Rahul Dravid

Probably the ‘last classical batsman’ in the modern era, Rahul Dravid, at his best, was the epitome of Test batting. Living in the shadows of the more celebrated contemporaries, Dravid held his own, becoming the backbone of the Indian batting line-up.

Dravid was very rarely spectacular. He wasn’t ‘next to God on off-side’ or even ‘God’ himself. He did not exactly pull the crowd to the grounds, to be mesmerized. He wasn’t the most athletic fielder to be positioned in the covers and make diving saves. But when the showmanship was over and the need arose for an anchor, Dravid was always available. He didn’t set the imagination of cricket fans on fire, but he warmed them when the cold sent a shiver down the spine.

He was there, when after 20 years, India made an appearance in the World Cup final – standing behind the stumps dutifully, because his team needed him to. He was there, when after a generation’s gap, India won a Test match in Australia – contributing over 300 runs in 2 innings. He was there when India won its first Test series in Pakistan – making 270 match winning runs. He was there when Ganguly made his 100 at Lord’s – supporting him with 95 runs from the other end. He was there when Laxman destroyed Aussies with his 281 – helping bring down the fort with his 180.

Rahul Dravid’s contribution to Indian cricket is a testimony of hard work, perseverance and selfless dedication to one’s aim – that of propelling Indian cricket to greatness.

Irrespective of the number of runs, of the number of catches in slips, of the number of match saving and match winning innings, of the number of selfless deeds performed, Rahul Dravid will be a legend across nationalities for understanding and perfecting the game he loved the most.